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RESOLUTION

On sustainable poverty reduction during 2011 - 2020

To achieve the poverty reduction objectives is a major policy of the Party and the State aiming to improve material and spiritual lives for the poor, contributing to narrowing the gap in living standards between rural and urban areas, among regions, ethnic minorities and population groups. It also demonstrates Vietnam’s determination to achieve the United Nations Millennium Goals.

In the past, efforts have been concentrated on successfully implementing the socio-economic development strategy and poverty reduction programs, providing the poor with better access to basic social services; improving infrastructure in poor districts and communes; and markedly bettering the poor’s living conditions, with the national poverty rate falling from 22% in 2005 to 9.45% in 2010. Vietnam’s recent achievements in poverty reduction have been acknowledged and appreciated by the international community.

Nevertheless, poverty reduction results are not really sustainable, the number of households living just above the poverty line and the annual rate of households relapsing into poverty remain high; the rich-poor gap among regions and population groups is still rather wide, the poor’s life is still fraught with difficulties, especially in mountainous and highland regions and ethnic minority areas.

The above situation is primarily due to the nation’s many difficulties. The state-allocated resources for poverty reduction, albeit great, still fail to meet demands. Besides, a number of poverty reduction programs and policies have been uncoordinated, short-term and loosely associated. Management, direction and decentralization mechanisms are still irrational. The realization of the poverty reduction objectives has not been properly organized in some localities. In addition, a portion of the poor still have a mentality of dependence, making no active efforts to escape poverty.

In order to make new improvements in poverty reduction in the coming time, the Government has resolved on the following orientations for sustainable poverty reduction from 2011 to 2020:

I. OBJECTIVES

1. General objectives:

Sustainable poverty reduction is a central issue of the 2011-2020 socio-economic development strategy aimed at improving and incrementally raising the living conditions for the poor, first of all those in mountainous and ethnic minority areas; to make strong and comprehensive improvements in poor areas; and to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas, among regions, ethnic minorities and population groups.

2. Specific objectives:

a) The average income per capita of poor households will increase 3.5 times; the rate of poor households will drop 2% a year, particularly 4% in poor districts and communes by poverty standards set for each period;

b) The poor’s living conditions will be markedly improved, first of all in health, education, culture, daily-life water and housing; the poor will have more and more convenient access to basic social services;

c) Socio-economic infrastructure facilities in poor districts and communes and extremely disadvantaged villages and hamlets will receive concentrated and synchronous investment according to new-countryside standards, first of all essential infrastructure such as transport, electricity and daily-life water supply.

II. BENEFICIARIES AND SCOPE

1. Beneficiaries: The poor and poor households nationwide, with priority given to poor ethnic minority, elderly, disabled, women and children.

2. Localities:

a) Poor districts;

b) Poor communes, including:

- Extremely disadvantaged communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas;

- Extremely disadvantaged communes in coastal banks and on islands;

- Border communes and communes in former safety zones.

c) Extremely disadvantaged villages and hamlets in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

III. POLICIES

1. General poverty reduction support policies:

a) Support for the poor’s production, vocational training, job creation and income increase:

- To create favorable conditions for the poor to have access to funding sources in association with guiding them how to do business, and to agricultural and industrial extension work and transfer of techniques and technologies to production; to effectively implement preferential credit policies for poor households, especially households of disabled persons and female heads;

- To properly implement vocational training policies for rural laborers, particularly poor laborers; to prioritize resources for investment in school buildings, classrooms and equipment and vocational teacher training; to combine vocational training with creating jobs for poor laborers. To expand the application of labor export support policies to poor laborers nation wide.

b) Support for education and training:

- To effectively implement the policies on school fee exemption and reduction, scholarships, social allowances and learning expense supports for poor students at all educational levels, particularly preschool level; to continue implementing preferential credit policies toward students, especially poor ones;

- To implement policies on preferential treatment toward teachers working in disadvantaged areas; to encourage the formation and expansion of study promotion funds; to prioritize early investment in school buildings and classrooms in poor communes and extremely disadvantaged villages and hamlets to reach set standards;

c) Support for health and nutrition:

- To effectively implement the policy on issuance of health insurance cards for the poor and support members of households living just above the poverty line to buy health insurance cards; to formulate a policy on support for the poor with serious or dangerous diseases. To study policies to support the supply of nutrition for poor women and children in poor areas;

- To further enhance policies on preferential treatment toward health workers working in poor areas. To prioritize early investment in hospitals and health centers in poor districts and communes to reach set standards.

d) Housing support:

To continue implementing housing support policies for poor households in rural and mountainous areas to improve their housing conditions, giving priority to poor households with elderly and disabled members. To develop local mechanisms and policies on housing supports for the poor in urban areas on the basis of mobilizing resources of communities, families and family lines. To further effectively implement the program on investment in building houses for low-income earners.

e) Support for the poor to access legal aid services:

To effectively implement the policy on free legal aid for the poor, create conditions for the poor to be aware of their rights and obligations and proactively access the State’s aid policies and escape poverty.

f) Support for the poor to enjoy culture and information:

To properly implement the program on bringing culture and information to grassroots level; to diversify communication activities, helping the poor access poverty reduction policies and popularizing effective poverty reduction models and examples of poverty escape.

2. Specific poverty reduction support policies:

a) Poor ethnic minority households and people; poor households and the poor living in poor districts, poor communes and extremely disadvantaged villages and hamlets are entitled to the following priority policies:

- Poor households and people in extremely disadvantaged communes, communes in former safety zones, border communes and extremely disadvantaged villages and hamlets are entitled to production, job creation and income increase support policies under the Government’s Resolution No. 30a/2008/NQ-CP of December 27, 2008;

- Poor households in border villages and hamlets outside poor districts, if unable to afford enough food, are entitled to 15 kg of rice/member/month under the Government’s Resolution No. 30a/2008/NQ-CP of December 27, 2008;

- To apply higher investment and interest support levels to poor households in extremely disadvantaged areas;

- To expand the policy on selection-based enrolment to households living in extremely disadvantaged areas;

- To grant scholarships for children of poor ethnic minority households living in extremely disadvantaged areas to follow tertiary education;

- To prioritize support for community cultural houses, bringing information to grassroots level and providing free legal aid to ethnic minority people in extremely disadvantaged areas;

- To formulate conservation projects for ethnic minority groups and sedentarization projects to help people in extremely disadvantaged areas (rocky, flashflood-hit and natural disaster-prone areas).

b) Continued and expanded implementation of policies on preferential treatment to poor districts and communes:

- Poor districts:

To continue effectively implementing policies to support fast and sustainable poverty reduction in poor districts under Resolution No. 30a/2008/NQ-CP, including policies on support for production, job creation and income increase; policies on education, training, vocational training and raising of people’s intellectual standards; policies for cadres working in poor districts; and policies and mechanisms on investment in infrastructure in villages, hamlets, communes and districts.

- Poor communes:

To prioritize early investment in school buildings, classrooms, health centers and cultural houses in extremely disadvantaged communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas to reach new-countryside standards;

To prioritize early investment in infrastructure in extremely disadvantaged communes in coastal banks and on islands and communes in former safety zones to reach new-countryside standards;

To expand the military-civil health program; to build poverty reduction models associated with security and defense to support production and create incomes for the poor in border areas; to increase border guards to hold key posts in border communes.

c) National target programs, programs and projects funded with government bond capital or ODA capital and other programs must concentrate activities and resources on early investment in poor districts and communes in order to accelerate poverty reduction in these areas.

IV. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. The Government shall uniformly manage, direct and administer the implementation of the poverty reduction program. The Prime Minister shall set up a Steering Committee for the program, with a Deputy Prime Minister acting as chairman and leaders of ministries and sectors as members.

2. The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall:

a) Act as the standing body of the Steering Committee for the Poverty Reduction Program to assist the Prime Minister in uniformly directing poverty reduction activities nationwide;

b) Formulate and submit to the Prime Minister for approval a national target program on sustainable poverty reduction during 2011-15 and subsequent periods, consisting of poverty reduction projects; and a system of indicators for evaluation of national poverty reduction activities;

c) Assume the prime responsibility for implementing the project on support for fast and sustainable poverty reduction in poor districts under Resolution No. 30a/2008/NQ-CP and extremely disadvantaged communes in coastal banks and on islands;

d) Guide and direct the implementation of policies on vocational training, job creation and labor export for the poor.

3. The Committee for Ethnic Minorities shall:

a) Assume the prime responsibility for implementing the project on poverty reduction in extremely disadvantaged communes, villages and hamlets in ethnic minority and mountainous areas;

b) Formulate and adopt specific policies to support poor households, the poor and ethnic minority people in extremely disadvantaged communes, villages and hamlets in ethnic minority and mountainous areas; conservation projects for ethnic minority groups and sedentarization projects to support people in extremely disadvantaged areas (rocky, flashflood-hit and natural disaster-prone areas).

4. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall formulate and submit for promulgation mechanisms and policies to support development of agricultural, forestry and fishery production and increase incomes for poor households in poor districts and communes; implement the agricultural extension program, support the building of models of transfer of technical advances and models of intensive cultivation toward commodity production easily accessible to the poor; guide, direct and prioritize resources from the program on building a new countryside for early investment in poor communes.

5. The Ministry of National Defense shall formulate and implement the military-civil health program and poverty reduction models associated with security and defense to support production and create incomes for the poor in border communes; increase cadres in border and island communes; mobilize young people and intellectuals to voluntarily work in border communes and defense-economic zones; assist people in building new living styles and assuring security and social order and safety in localities.

6. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, formulating and submitting for promulgation criteria for allocation of poverty reduction resources; formulating and guiding a mechanism for managing poverty reduction programs; examining and evaluating the effectiveness of the implementation of mechanisms for managing national target programs of ministries, sectors and localities in association with the achievement of the poverty reduction objectives.

Annually, on the basis of approved norms and criteria, it shall assume the prime responsibility for and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Committee for Ethnic Minorities in, drawing up and submitting to the Government plans on allocation of poverty reduction resources for localities, giving priority to localities with extremely disadvantaged areas.

7. The Ministry of Finance shall guide and allocate funds for implementation of poverty reduction programs, projects and policies according to current regulations on state budget management decentralization and requirements of this Resolution; and guide the management and use of funds for the implementation of the national target program on sustainable poverty reduction.

8. The Ministry of Health shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries and sectors in, studying, formulating and submitting for promulgation policies to support the poor and people living just above the poverty line in medical examination and treatment; prioritizing early investment in hospitals and health centers in poor districts and communes to reach set standards; and studying policies to support nutrition for poor women and children in poor areas.

9. The Ministry of Education and Training shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries and sectors in, studying, formulating and submitting for promulgation policies to support poor students in education and training; studying and formulating study promotion funds in extremely disadvantaged communes, villages and hamlets; and prioritizing early investment in school buildings and classrooms in poor districts and communes to reach set standards.

10. The Ministry of Construction shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, studying, formulating and submitting for promulgation policies on housing support for poor households in rural and mountainous areas and low-income earners and the poor in urban centers.

11. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries and sectors in, studying, formulating and submitting for promulgation policies on bringing culture to grassroots level, prioritizing support for the poor and ethnic minority people to access culture and information, particularly in extremely disadvantaged areas.

12. The Ministry of Home Affairs shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, studying, formulating and submitting for promulgation policies to attract young cadres and intellectuals to voluntarily work in poor districts and communes; policies on training and retraining of grassroots cadres in poor districts and communes; and guiding criteria for commendation of households, districts, communes, villages and hamlets that have recorded achievements in sustainable poverty reduction.

13. The Ministry of Justice shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, studying, finalizing and submitting for promulgation legal aid policies for the poor.

14. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, studying, formulating and submitting for promulgation policies on residential and production land support for poor households and the poor in extremely disadvantaged communes, villages and hamlets; and proposing solutions to limiting climate change and sea level rise impacts on poverty and hunger.

15. The State Bank of Vietnam shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance in, formulating and submitting for promulgation preferential credit policies for poor households, households living just above the poverty line and ethnic minority households in extremely disadvantaged communes, villages and hamlets.

16. Other concerned ministries and sectors shall study, formulate and submit for promulgation mechanisms and policies to support poverty reduction according to their respective management functions and tasks.

17. Provincial-level People’s Committees shall strengthen the system of steering committees for poverty reduction at all levels in their respective localities; prioritize resources for poor districts and communes; and, on the basis of the spirit of this Resolution, study and supplement appropriate policies to support poor households and the poor in their respective localities to achieve the sustainable poverty reduction objectives.

18. The Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee is requested to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with its member organizations in, directing grassroots chapters in properly mobilizing their members and the entire people to respond to and participate in poverty reduction support campaigns such as the “Day for the Poor” and “All People Build Cultural Life in Residential Quarters” campaigns, setting up study promotion funds and stepping up the implementation of the program on building a new countryside.

19. State economic groups and corporations and enterprises of other economic sectors are encouraged to support and assist poor districts and communes in strengthening essential infrastructure, cooperate on production development and technique transfer; and provide free vocational training for and employ poor laborers to raise poor households’ incomes, contributing to fast and sustainable poverty reduction.

20. Communities and family lines shall further support the poor and raise their sense of self-reliance to strive for a better life.

21. The mass media shall propagate and disseminate the State’s guidelines and policies on poverty reduction.